Change Is Good

Recently, the blog world lost one of it's own. Mad Dog's Blog, famous for bringing you such posts as Pictures of Madison Stuck in Stuff Like A Christmas Tree and Their Coffee Table and "The Cat Door" video, ceased to exist.

However, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Jen is back and bold and sporting a new template. Her new blog, Fun With The Walshes, is private and all-exclusive like, so if you'd like a pass, shoot her or me an email and she'll get your name on the list. It's worth it, 'cause there's already a picture up of Jordan with a pig on her head.

I'm third to announce it, but Fun Kristi has joined the masses and There's More To Life Than Laundry has made it's debut. Check her out - because she's fun. The word "fun" is actually in her name. She has three wee girls, Grace, Cora (Coco) and Mary and they are very precious. Here's three things about her that will help ya'll get aquatinted:

1. She was asked on two different occasions to pose for a certain magazine, and declined.

2. If you ask her about Grace starting Kindergarten this year, she will cry.

3. She has extrememly straight hair and I am a little envious.

Lastly, I need some truth. Most likely with a bit of change mixed in. You know how you grow up surrounding by certain things and they seem normal? Are these rug things really outdated? (Please Mom, don't get offended.)

I've been trying to picture all of my friends' bathrooms (weird) and I seem to be the only one with these ... Do they need to go? Help! I'm an only child! It took me until college to buy an underwire bra and I still can't do my eyeshadow correctly. Tell me. I can take it.

Thaddeus

During the last weekend that Josh was away, the kids and I packed up again for Prescott.

In The Meantime

I know you are all waiting to hear about Josh's adventures, but since it might take him a little while to get it together, I thought I'd entertain you with pictures from our trip to California. We went to Rancho Cuchomunga to visit Josh's relatives, Gregg and Malorie. They have 3 older kids - Caty and Emily who are 14 (Happy Birthday!) and Jameson who is 17. We had a great time.

The 6 hour drive was amazingly easy. Exhibit A

Exhibit B - how did I ever live without the DVD player???

Malorie has a salon right there in her house. Why did I NOT get my eyebrows done? I tell you, they are overtaking my face.

Kate's turn

Oh, behold the cuteness.

Miles' turn

On Friday we took a short drive over to Knott's Berry Farm. There were less than 200 hundred people in the whole park, so Snoopy was walking around aimlessly when we found him.

One of the many trains we rode that day.

Miles enjoyed the trains, yes?

And the trucks...

and the cars...

Emily took us to Victoria Gardens on Saturday. It was a sweet outdoor mall with a little train that the kids got to ride.

Just a little spray pad in January action

Kate borrowed this cool bed from Grace for our trip. Miles was gracious enough to try it out for her. He said that it was best while naked. Yes, I'll wash it.

A pedicure

Malorie, Gregg and Miles

Bedtime stories

Our last day

Giving goodbye kisses

Miles was in love with Chloe and was determined to say goodbye.

Thanks, guys, for putting up with us for four days. Love you!!

He's Home!

Josh made it home last night around 8:15 pm.

No one got up until 8:45 this morning and Miles pooped in the potty. All is well.

Updates From Singapore and India

Since Josh is in such a remote area of India, I have only gotten to talk to him a few times - once, when he and the team met up with our dear friend, June, in Singapore and then again last night from India. I am receiving emails occasionally that keep me a bit more in the loop, so I thought that I would pass them on... This first one is from June - i managed to meet up with scott and the rest! it was good..... ok, the lowdown of the happenings last friday: went to the airport to meet them and since my car could take only one more passenger, i took Josh on a private tour around singapore in my zippy zip zip mobile while scott led the rest by train to Bugis Junction. Bugis is a nice quaint place in Singapore (they wanted some place local where they could absorb as much of the culture as possible in the short time they were here, so i thought Bugis!).... i had to park my car back at the office as parking is a nightmare in the city, so Josh got to see where i worked and had a little walk with me down the bay area, before we hopped on a cab for the short ride to bugis. after meeting up with the rest of the group, we went for food (yes, local as well in a restaurant) and am sooooooo glad that they approved of all the food! it was scary, not knowing what they liked and what they didn't like, but i took the risk and just ordered and they loved it all! phew! we had fried rice, steamed rice rolls with shrimp, sharks fin soup, noodles, curry, deep fried eggplant with pork floss, pigs trotters (yes! and scott and josh loved it), tofu, turnip cake, pumpkin soup with seafood..... just so much food but am sooooo glad they loved it all! they took so many pictures of the food! after lunch, the group split up - me with scott, josh and paul. the rest went shopping at street stalls while i took the boys in search of durians! ha! yes yes, thatz the famous fruit with thorns and a real pungent smell.... the boys tried one each (i think scott might have had two) and they had the funniest look on their faces! they found it very wierd indeed, but gamely tried it for the experience of a lifetime - they took photos of the ordeal (!) and will probably show them to you when they get back! then we went to a chinese taoist temple where they got to see how the taoist worshipped and then to an hindu temple - so it was all an eye-opener for them... then we hopped into a cab and went down to the bay side where they saw the city skyline, the singapore flyer (a mega huge ferris wheel just like the London Eye), raflles hotel (the iconic oldest hotel in singapore), the esplanade (our world-renowned theatre by the bay) and the merlion (yeah, that mythical creature which is half lion - representing singapore the lion city and half fish bottom - representing our place as an island)... and of course they had starbucks under the bridge which they so missed. they were amused to find starbucks under the bridge - it is very prettily nestled under the flyover by the bay and they wished they had more time just to have a quiet moment resting, but none of that since they were in a rush! all too soon, the time came for them to return back to the airport - they prayed for me and then we parted ways - it was very sad indeed. Oh, June, we miss you! Josh called me while he was riding along in her car and he said that Singapore is definitely a place he would like to go back to. I'm not all that sure about the shark fin, but, hey... This next one is from Lori - her husband, Scott, is our senior pastor and is on the trip as well... Just thought I'd pass along a summary email to let you know that I heard from Scott again last night and all is well with Team India! After over 26 hours of travel, and a long layover in Singapore where they did some site seeing, they arrived in Hyderabad and spent a day or so there getting acclimated to the environment. The last couple days (and where they will be most of this week) they have been in very rural open country areas near Hyderabad ministering to the people in the Villages there. They have had some great opportunities to share the gospel with many and have also been encouraging the church leaders and their families that LifeQuest supports. Along with Scott doing some preaching, Shane had an opportunity yesterday to share his testimony to some of the men in the village about marriage and purity. And so far Josh and Chris also had an opportunity to share God's Word. They will be doing some outreach events there in the villages this week. Scott said that though most people are Hindu or Muslim they are very receptive and hungry to hear the gospel of Christ. The children are going crazy to shake their hands and be around the Team, and Scott says that its like going back in time 500 years with the simple way people live out there. Caleb, their incountry missionary leader is wonderful and has taken such care of the team- they feel very safe and organized with him. There are cows and monkeys roaming the streets, and of course he had to mention that the authentic spicy Indian food is great! Scott sounds very encouraged and says the entire Team is truly loving their time there. This final one is from Lisa, whose husband, Chris, is with the team... It was a blessing to hear from Chris again around 5 this morning. He told me there is a harvest festival going on now. He also said they felt the Lord's protection when faced with a literal roadblock (overturned truck) keeping them from going to a questionable area. They have had two blowouts and Chris wants to buy the ministry four new tires I think. The Lord has provided for and blessed the team in innumerable ways already. Pray for Shane, who has an infected molar and is on antibiotics and will himself be treated at the dental clinic. Praise God for the baptisms yesterday and pray for their time with Pastor Ratnaker today (it is his birthday by the way). Praise God for all the church plants and pastors. I talked to Josh last night (Monday) and he said that he was doing well physically- thank God! -but that he is experiencing some culture shock. He sounded great and excited about what is going on there. He also said that they were going "deep into the jungle" today and that he probably wouldn't be able to call again until they get back to Singapore on Saturday. Thanks for all of your prayers for this team. What an opportunity!

5 Somewhat Random Things I'D Like You To Know

I've taken upon myself to turn Robyn's post into a MEME. I'm not sure what the acronym stands for exactly, but let's not get ourselves distracted. A MEME is kind of like one of those emails where you fill in random questions and forward it to a lot of people so that they can answer them and forward them to a lot of other people. With MEMEs, you just "tag" fellow bloggers. Oh, yes. I'm seeping with useable knowledge.

I liked Robyn's post so much, that it got me thinking about 5 random things of my own.

1) Garanimals are back, people! I found them at Wal-Mart, so all of you color blind folks can take control of your wardrobe once more. Too bad they don't come in adult sizes - my dad would find them quite handy.

2) One of my kid's favorite Christmas presents? Crayola Color Dotz for the bath!!! Oh, the joys of deciding what color they will bathe in tonight! Nice job, Aunt Jocelyn.

The Blue Lagoon

3) Josh left for India today. Yes, the actual country of India. For 10 whole days. He was practically brimming with excitement. He will be part of a mission trip to Hyderabad through our church and Harvest Ministries. Please keep the whole team in your prayers as they seek to share Christ with the Indian people. I'll have him guest blog when he gets back and re-orients to the 12 hour time difference.

4) After we left Josh at the airport *sniff* we dined at our favorite Chick-Fil-A restaurant. I'm can be almost certain that we help keep them in business. Anyway, while we were eating, a man was walking around with his baby and said to me, "I hope my kids are as well behaved as yours when they get older." My first thought was, "Ha! Stick around, pal," but then I decided to take the compliment, praise my kids, and be thankful for the encouragement. None of our children are perfect, but man, it's super when those moments occur.

5) I'm attempting to embark on a trip to California with the kiddos tomorrow, so pray for me too! We'll all be hopped up on HSM since I can't locate even one of my own CD's - I think I had a Queen album around here at one time...

If you're up for the MEME challenge, post your own and then do some taggin'.

Robyn, now you are both wise... and a trendsetter.

Ringing It In

We headed north for New Years and Aunt Cara's 19th birthday. Kate had fun crashing at Grandma and Granddad's house while Josh, Miles and I stayed at Jake and Jocelyn's place.

Gavin, Aunt Jocelyn and Miles - we tried (hard) to get a picture of the boys in their footie jammers, but this is the best we could do.

Gavin was really into looking at the pictures on my camera...

"Can I have it back now?"

"How 'bout now?"

"Lady, I'm beggin' ya. Who can resist this face?"

He tried to trade me his drumset.

Miles was ready to make the deal happen. However, I would literally lose my mind if it were in my house.

Kate and Aunt Cara

Grandma Cheryl bought this little itty bitty thing of a horse and despite the fact that it is in the family way, she plopped all three grandkids on it for a ride.

Oh, it was freeeeeezing! I was advised to bring gloves for the little ones next time. Maybe a freaking parka for myself as well...

We brought in the New Year with a bit of Dutch Blitz (which I conquered) and a bit of Dick Clark. Too much of either can put one over the edge.